To begin with, you need knowledge, network, and contacts with startups - read here to find out how you as a professional athlete can invest in your first startup this year.
Entering the world of business angels is not easy. It takes numerous skills to build a successful startup portfolio of your own. In addition to the necessary financial requirements of an investment, this also includes entrepreneurial knowledge and a wide network to develop the funded startups.
Entrepreneurs (such as founders) gradually acquire all three necessary resources throughout their professional careers and can independently take the first steps as business angels with their personal experiences. Professional athletes, on the other hand, cannot rely on any experience from an entrepreneurial career. While the financial means may be present, there is a lack of entrepreneurial expertise and an appropriate network in the startup and business angel scene to successfully become an angel investor. You should always be aware of the risk of loss as business angel. However, this is not a cause for concern! This article will show you how you can make the first steps as an "Athlete Angel":
1. Gaining Knowledge
If you have no experience with startup investments, you should first acquire a basic knowledge base. To do this, it helps to read up on the practices of business angels, as well as to learn important terms and methods that will help you choose and evaluate the right startup. You can find some initial techniques and methods in our blog posts "How to Business Angel" and "The High Five of Startup Evaluation." Of course, you can also watch informative videos or listen to podcasts on the topic. Any different form of content can bring you closer to the goal of making your first investment. In keeping with this, we publish new articles in the Athlete Capital Business Angel Academy on a weekly basis to bring you new learnings as a professional athlete. Sign up for our newsletter now and never miss a news update.
2. Building a Network
In addition, you should actively approach experienced people in the startup and business angel scene. Such a network can tell you about investments that have already been made and give you important tips. In addition, you should attend startup events or participate in pitch events. You will learn more about what investors look for in startups and get better access to the founder teams. It is important to speak to as many people as possible about the topic. That's something we at Athlete Capital can speak to from our own experience. You can never learn enough when it comes to startup investments. You can start building your network here with Athlete Capital. Feel free to book an online conversation to talk with us about your interests and experiences and make the first steps. We have access to a constantly growing network that we make available to you on our platform. This includes professional athletes who have already gained experience as investors. On our regular online events, you will also get to know the founders of our startup portfolios. Our team looks forward to working with you.
3. Starting Small
Of course, you can immediately venture into an investment with a ticket size of 50,000 € or 100,000 €. However, we would not recommend this start. It is advisable to start with small ticket sizes and strong diversification. The latter means to invest one's available capital in several different startups. With the right investment models, you can reduce your risk at the beginning and take your first steps as an Athlete Angel:
Indirect Investment → Together with our investment partner capacura, we offer the opportunity to build your own startup portfolio from an investment amount of 1,000 €. You do not participate as a shareholder in the startups, but still benefit from the potential growth.
Crowdfunding → Crowdfunding is an investment model in which a large number of people, also known as "the crowd," pool small amounts of money to finance a project or company. There are different types of crowdfunding, such as equity-based and debt-based crowdfunding. While investors receive shares in the company and participate in the success with equity-based crowdfunding, they lend the company money and get it back later with interest in debt-based crowdfunding.
Media4Equity → Media4Equity is an investment method in which the investor supports the startup with advertising campaigns or other marketing measures, instead of with money. In return, investors receive a stake in the company. This investment model is very attractive for entry as a business angel, as the investor does not have to spend large financial sums. Athlete Capital will offer you the opportunity as an athlete in the future to invest in startups with the help of media services.
Direct Investment → This investment model corresponds to the classic participation as an investor and shareholder in a startup. Through Athlete Capital, we enable you to invest from a ticket size of 20,000 €, with which you can participate as a business angel in the success. The model "Direct Investment" then already counts as an advanced step, in which return and risk must be balanced against each other.
Knowledge, network and the right investment model - With the help of these steps, entering as an Athlete Investor can be successful. If you want to learn more about the different investment models, or as a professional athlete finally dive into the startup and business angel scene, then become a part of Athlete Capital today. Team Up For Future!
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